Fitness Motivations: A Study of Hong Kong Youth Engagement

This report examines the involvement of Hong Kong youths in fitness activities, focusing on the concepts of fitness, intrinsic motivation, and extrinsic motivation. It defines fitness as a state of complete health and well-being, achievable through various activities like workouts. The report differentiates between intrinsic motivation, driven by internal satisfaction and enjoyment, and extrinsic motivation, which relies on external rewards like money or praise to influence behavior. It emphasizes the importance of understanding these motivations to promote healthier lifestyles among young people in Hong Kong. Desklib offers more resources and solved assignments for students.

Hong Kong Youths Involvement in Fitness
Hong Kong Youths Involvement in Fitness
Name
Professor
Course
Date

Hong Kong Youths Involvement in Fitness
Fitness
The term fitness on the other hand is a broad term that can assume various definitions depending
on the context with which the terms itself is used. In our case for instance, the term fitness may
refer to a state of complete health and general well being (Janssen & LeBlanc, 2010). There are
various levels of fitness depending on a person and these levels of fitness can be achieved by
engaging oneself in various activities such as workouts, hitting the gym etc. Different levels of
fitness have been known to exist and different persons pursue different levels of fitness. There
are certain instances, however, that you find a person pursuing more than one type of fitness. The
commonly known types of fitness include aerobic fitness, muscular strength and endurance
which is based on the masculinity of the body and how the muscles can endure periods of intense
pressure among others (Gibson, Wagner, Heyward, 2018).
Intrinsic motivation
Intrinsic motivation is quite dynamic and unique in nature. This is so because it categorically
distinguishes between external and internal reward. What is meant here is that intrinsic
motivation is a kind of motivation that occurs when one acts without any form of obvious
external rewards that are going to be presented to them (Csikszentmihalyi, 2014). Its often more
driven by the inward feeling of internal satisfaction and a persons who pursues it tends does so
because they actually see an opportunity or rather they want to learn and/or explore.
It is however to note that the most important aspect of intrinsic motivation is the issue of internal
satisfaction. Internal motivation is often related to doing something because of pure enjoyment
and pleasure that comes as a result of getting involved in that particular activity. Therefore, when
a person pursues something because of other aspects such as exploration, enjoyment and not a

Hong Kong Youths Involvement in Fitness
reward that is attached in pursuing that thing, then we say that the person is intrinsically
motivated. Moreover, intrinsic motivation is also associated with rewards but these rewards are
often aspects such as creating a sense of positivity within the persons involved and making them
feel self satisfied and/or fulfilling (Cerasoli, Nicklin, Ford, 2014).
Extrinsic motivation
Unlike intrinsic motivation, extrinsic motivation is reward driven. Its often associated with like
some form of conditioning that results into behavior modification where rewards and at times
punishments are used with the sole purpose of either increasing and/or decreasing the likelihood
of certain behaviors or aspects of certain behaviors happening (Becker, McElvany, Kortenbruck,
2010).
In most cases of extrinsic motivation precious incentives are used such as money, fame or even
praise to as to influence people or a group of people to increase their levels of productivity in
certain areas of specialization. It is however important to note that extrinsic motivation should
only be used in cases where the reward is used sparingly so that it does not loose its meaning
and/or impact. In simpler terms, the reward and its value can greatly decrease if the reward is
give too much and aimlessly. There should therefore be a caution and a limit with which the
reward is given and/or how often the reward is given (Reiss, 2012).
Another important aspect about extrinsic motivation is that it can either be tangible or
psychological. For the case of tangible motivation, this involves rewards that are tangible in
nature and could either be in form of trophies or money. Psychological forms of extrinsic
motivation on the other hand include aspects such as praise and public acclaim among others.

Hong Kong Youths Involvement in Fitness
References
Becker, M., McElvany, N., & Kortenbruck, M. (2010). Intrinsic and extrinsic reading motivation
as predictors of reading literacy: A longitudinal study. Journal of Educational
psychology, 102(4), 773.
Cerasoli, C. P., Nicklin, J. M., & Ford, M. T. (2014). Intrinsic motivation and extrinsic
incentives jointly predict performance: A 40-year meta-analysis. Psychological
bulletin, 140(4), 980.
Csikszentmihalyi, M. (2014). Intrinsic motivation and effective teaching. In Applications of flow
in human development and education (pp. 173-187). Springer, Dordrecht.
Gibson, A. L., Wagner, D., & Heyward, V. (2018). Advanced Fitness Assessment and Exercise
Prescription, 8E. Human kinetics.
Janssen, I., & LeBlanc, A. G. (2010). Systematic review of the health benefits of physical
activity and fitness in school-aged children and youth. International journal of behavioral
nutrition and physical activity, 7(1), 40.
Reiss, S. (2012). Intrinsic and extrinsic motivation. Teaching of Psychology, 39(2), 152-156.